Harmony
by morallyambiguous
Summary: Her voice cracked as her throat tensed up, but she wasn't about to cry over a stupid boy, a stupid, stupid, loveable boy.


**Title:** Harmony  
><strong>Category:<strong> Avatar: The Last Airbender  
><strong>Character(s):<strong> Katara & Zuko  
><strong>Words:<strong> 3,338  
><strong>Genre(s):<strong> Humor/Romance  
><strong>Rating:<strong> T  
><strong>Summary:<strong> Her voice cracked as her throat tensed up, but she wasn't about to cry over a stupid boy, a stupid, stupid, loveable boy.

* * *

><p>Zuko was okay, she supposed. Although, she still didn't understand why they had allowed him into the band after all the shit his little sycophants got them into. He was quiet and polite and nice, but she still didn't like him. It's not like they needed another vocalist anyway. They had her, and Sokka.<p>

She huffed and looked down at her music, marking the places where the words didn't quite fit or the notes that seemed out of place, and stopped when Aang and Zuko entered the room. They seemed to be getting along. She scoffed, of course they were, Aang was the one who had invited Zuko to join them way back when he had that dumb little ponytail.

She rubbed her wrists, remembering the party that had ended with her pinned to a wall by the older boy. His muscular body pressed against hers. Zuko seemed to know she was thinking about him, he caught her eye and smiled slightly. She blushed angrily and looked back down at her paper angrily, continuing despite the noise of Aang and Zuko's conversation. Well, that was until Aang decided to set up his drum kit.

The door opened again and she waved at Toph, Sokka, and Suki. Everyone was happy to see everyone. She stayed silent in her corner, letting the sound wash over her as she continued her revision. It wasn't a song they would be playing this gig but if they had one next month it should be ready. Someone came up to her, "Um, Katara, are you okay, you haven't really talked to anyone." It was Zuko.

She glared up at him, "Nothing's wrong and if something were it wouldn't be any of your business, Zuko." He backed away from her, looking down slightly, before going back to his conversation with Aang. She felt someone looking at her and looked up to Toph's cloudy eyes, narrowed at her.

A few minutes later Aang decided her was done socializing and just started playing one of their songs, everyone joining in as they recognized what song it was. It definitely wasn't one of the most fun practices that she'd ever had, but it wasn't one of those practices that ended with everyone screaming at each other.

Later that night she got a phone call.

"What's up with you and Sparky, Sugar Queen?" Toph was never one for pleasantries.

"Hello, how are you? I'm fine thank you." Katara muttered.

"Not the answer."

"I don't like him, that's all." Katara replied. "You all seem to think that he's some sort of God who can do no wrong. I see him as a human being I really don't like."

"Still not the answer. How 'bout I throw out a few suggestions and you tell me when I'm getting closer."

"Sure." It's not like Toph was going to figure it out anyway.

"Let me guess, this has something to do with a party you and Zuko attended oh say, about six months back, where you two got rip-roaringly drunk and proceeded to make out against a wall. You wanted to forget about it and never mention it again, but every time you saw him he wanted to talk about it? Or perhaps should I be talking about the time 2 days you guys had to spend in a cave after that hiking accident? What about that masked party where you two ended up spending the entire time together? Am I getting closer?"

Katara dropped the phone. Before quickly picking it back up. "I have no idea what you're talking about." God, she even sounding unconvincing to herself. "I-I gotta go, I have homework to do." And before Toph could get a word in she hung the phone up.

God, she couldn't think about this right now. But she did anyway, unwanted memories flashing against her eyelids.

_Six months ago…_

"Well, if it ishn't the Fire Prinche himshelf." She was drunk, a very unusual situation for her, but Jet had turned out to be a criminal. Just the kind of thing she didn't need in her life.

Zuko turned around, a half-empty cup of punch in his hand. She giggled, from the looks of things he'd been over here brooding all night. She giggled again, silly Zuko, if anyone should be brooding it should be her, but she'd been dancing all night. Maybe Zuko would like to dance with her.

She grabbed the hand that wasn't holding the cup and pulled him up. He stumbled slightly, and she dragged him to the dance floor. "Dance with me!" She yelled, already moving her body to the music. He tried to turn away and go back to his brooding but she grabbed his hand and placed it on her hip. Something told her that this wasn't a good idea but she ignored it and pressed her body close to his. Blue eyes half-closed she didn't see quite when he decided to dance with her but soon she was surrounded by Zuko, his spicy scent everywhere around her, and suddenly she wanted that, wanted him, so badly that it hurt. She's pretty sure she kissed him first, but it really didn't matter because almost immediately he had separated them from the crowd and had her pushed against the wall.

He was everywhere, hot hands in her hair, on her hips, with the type of passion he only had when he performed. His mouth claimed hers, hot lips pressed intimately to her, tongue invading her mouth and God, whatever he was doing with his teeth she never wanted him to stop.

She wrapped her legs around his waist as he started nibbling on her neck. Her body was too hot, he was too hot, but it wasn't hot enough. Shem moaned loudly and he suddenly stopped. He put her back down on the ground.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done this." He said, before quickly leaving her near the wall.

She started disliking him then.

"We've gotta do something Aang." Sokka sighed.

Aang sipped at his tea."What can we do Sokka? She refuses to talk to him, and he doesn't seem to want anything to do with her. We can't force them."

Sokka ran his fingers through his dark hair. "I don't know why she hates him so much."

Aang shrugged. "Maybe it's a girl thing. Or maybe she just hasn't forgiven him for way back when he was, you know."

Sokka rolled his eyes. "I know Katara that didn't bother her that much, she just kind of thought he was a pain in the ass."

"I don't know Sokka, we all got a little vicious towards the end. You and I may forgive Zuko easily, but Katara isn't that kind of person."

"But Zuko saved her, don't you remember? When she went up into the mountains on her own."

Aang cringed. Those days that Katara had been missing had been some of the worst for their little group. It was only by sheer luck that Zuko had found her. Even now, they couldn't get the full story.

_5 months ago…_

Her ankle hurt like hell, sharp, throbbing pain that kept her from moving. Her and her stupid pride. If she hadn't insisted on hiking alone, in the dead of winter no less. Now she was cold, isolated, and injured. This was the kind of situation that Sokka got in, or even Toph, not the ever-responsible Katara. Then again she hadn't been as responsible since the party. What had she been thinking? If she had just stayed away- she cut that train of thought off viciously

She gritted her teeth and pulled herself up. She put a little weight on her ankle and fell to the ground screaming. It took what must have been hours for her to gather up enough strength to drag herself to a small cave she had passed earlier. By then her body was freezing, wet, and it was dark outside.

But she was smart (well, most of the time she was, this time was a rare exception), she still couldn't walk but the cave was surrounded by lots of branches that had been protected from the snow by the cave. She started a fire, and set her ankle on a rock, before rummaging around in her pack for her first-aid kit.

She prodded her ankle lightly and cursed in several different languages. It looked like a compound fracture. She took a painkiller and set it. She looked at the entrance of her cave.

It was horrible outside. She was stuck in the mountains on her own, injured, wet, and apparently in the middle of a blizzard. This situation just kept getting better and better.

"Hello?" It was a man's voice, it was almost familiar. From her angle she saw a light, barely visible in the snowstorm, moving closer.

"Over here!" She waved her arms, trying to get his attention. The light began moving close rand a couple seconds later a tall man stepped through the doorway of her cave.

"I saw the fire." He said, pulling down his hood to reveal the scarred visage of the one and only Prince Zuko himself.

"Zuko!"

"Katara?"

"What are you doing here?"

"What do you mean what am I doing here? What are you doing here?"

"I was hiking. Then I fell." She gestured to her useless leg.

"I was hiking. Then the storm started." He shrugged, before moving closer to her. "Do you mind?" He gestured to her ankle.

He prodded her ankle, gently inspecting it. "Compound fracture, looks like it stopped just short of breaking the skin. Where's your first-aid kit?"

"There's not much it can do, but it's in the big pocket."

He rummaged through the bag, quickly finding the small white box. He opened it only to find that it was surprisingly simple. "No painkillers?"

She scoffed. "I wish."

He pulled out his own painkillers and she took them, happy for a little relief. "Zuko?"

"Katara?"

"What did you say sorry?" It'd been a month since the party and every time she had a moment to herself she thought about it.

He choked on air. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You don't remember last month, at that party? Where we made out and we were so close that I could feel your-"I remember." He blushed and looked away.

"Then why did you say sorry?"

He looked towards her, confused. "I took advantage of you."

She stared at him for a second, and then two seconds, and burst out laughing. "You took advantage of me?" She snorted.

"You were drunk."

"I was drunk, and in case you have some different memory, I pounced on you."

"But-" He started to protest.

She flipped herself so that she was suddenly on top of him. "Kind of like I'm doing right now."

She pressed her lips to his.

He broke away. "Katara!"

She rolled her eyes. "What, Zuko, do you not want this, not want me now that I'm sober?" She rolled her hips against his, he bit his lip and groaned. "I can tell you want whatever this is. I want it too. And this seems to be the only thing that is getting any response from your lovely self."

He stopped her again. "What is wrong with you? What is this?"

"I like you, Zuko. Quite frankly, I've liked you for a long time, even when you were being an unbearable asshole. Now shut up and kiss me!"

She pulled him down again and this time he didn't protest. It was almost like a re-run of the party and she never wanted it to end. HE surrounded her until she saw nothing but him. She could die happy in his arms, which she would pretty soon if she didn't get any oxygen. His lips moved down her neck, nibbling and sucking, she arched up into him.

Then his foot brushed her ankle.

She shrieked, and he jumped off of her, before looking at her ankle.

"Crap. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He panicked and gave her another painkiller.

"Don't worry, I can't believe I forgot about that. Talk about a mood killer huh?" She chuckled.

Zuko didn't look so happy. "I'm sorry." He said again.

"Don't worry about it, it was just an accident." She smiled at him.

He shook his head and moved deeper in the cave. And despite her best attempts he didn't speak to her, or meet her eyes, for the rest of the time they spent in that cave.

She started loathing him then.

Suki tapped a heart-topped pen against her sketchpad. Spring Break was coming up and people were already asking what the theme was going to be.

An iced frappuccino landed in front of her, and she looked up in surprise.

"Ty Lee! It's so good to see you!" The girl smiled and in the chair across from her.

"Sorry, I've been meaning to stop by, but I just got done with a dance show, gymnastics meet, _and_ a cheer competition!" She wiped an imaginary sweat drop off her face.

"It's alright."

"What's wrong? Your aura looks very red today."

Suki sighed, "I'm trying to figure out a theme for my next party, but after what happened last time I had a party I want to be careful." She cringed as she remembered how that party had ended.

"What did happen? No one wants to tell me. Azula just laughs whenever I ask and Zuko's aura was black and blue for after."

"Well, it was a masked party. I don't think they recognized each other…"

2 months ago…

She was rather fond of her costume. The Painted Lady was an old folktale, an old Fire Nation folktale a little voice in the back of her head said snidely.

By the time Katara had arrived, the party was in full swing. She waved at people she recognized, Sokka, Suki, Toph, Aang, and even Ty Lee.

Then she saw him. His costume was simple. If not for the intricate blue mask she would've mistaken him for a ninja. But the blue mask showed the world who he was.

The Blue Spirit. And she was attracted to him. In the same way she had been attracted to Zuko. Something that had started months before the party and had grown exponentially since then. But he obviously didn't want her. She sighed thinking about the dozens of almost "some things" and the two "some things" that had happened between the two of them. It was probably a good idea to get away from the Blue Spirit considering her track record, but she ignored it.

She shook her head and cleared her mind. Like the party that had started it all months ago she was here to forget about her troubles, not dwell on them.

She danced alone at first, but then she saw him and honestly, at that point she really didn't if it was a bad idea, she started dancing with the Blue Spirit.

He didn't speak, true to legend, but that was okay, the Painted Lady wasn't exactly known for being talkative either.

She danced with him almost the entire night, only pausing to dance with one of her friends.

Toph, dressed as a wrestler and calling herself the Blind Bandit, twirled Katara around, despite being a good head shorter than Katara.

"Having fun, Princess?"

"Yes, actually, what about you?"

"Eh, music's okay, I've tasted better food, and Snoozles is here."

"Nice to know that you're having a good time."

Toph scoffed. "Me? Having a good time? Never." She let go of Katara's hand as the song ended.

"Well, it looks like your Prince Charming wants you back. Try not to miss me too much." Even though Toph couldn't see Katara blush she felt it and smirked.

She handed Katara off to the Blue Spirit.

"If you hurt her Sparky, I'll break your face." She whispered.

The Blue Spirit stiffened and nodded.

"Have fun you two."

The Painted Lady and the Blue Spirit made quite a scene, dancing their way through the night. Then the clock struck twelve and the masks came off.

Katara stared, dumbstruck, at Zuko. "Look, Katara-"

She slapped him and everything stopped. He reached for her wrist but she pulled it away. "Don't, just don't." Then she turned and she ran from the party.

She started hating him then.

**peaceforall has joined the chatroom.**

**blindbatman has joined the chatroom.**

**hoodieninja has joined the chatroom.**

**kiyoshiblackbelt has joined the chatroom.**

**peaceforall:** hey guys

**blindbatman:** whats this about twinkletoes?

**peaceforall:** katara and zuko.

**kiyoshiblackbelt:** What about them?

**hoodieninja:** they wont talk 2 each othr, kinda killin r group.

**blindbatman:** its none of our business.

**hoodieninja:** nun of r bsns? u called katara last nite.

**blindbatman:** i have no idea what you are talking about.

**kiyoshiblackbelt:** Stop it, both of you.

**peaceforall:** we need them to work things out. we have a gig next week and we've barely practiced cause they're so hard to be around.

**kiyoshiblackbelt:** What can we do? In case you haven't noticed, they're both extremely stubborn. If they want to ignore each other, we can't exactly stop them.

**peaceforall:** i have a plan.

**blindbatman:** give us your plan o fearless leader.

_The Next Day…_

The garage was empty, not unusual, Katara tended to be unusually early. Although, for an Emergency practice, people usually began practicing their new piece.

She sat at her keyboard, warming up her voice. The clock struck nine and no one was there. She sighed and began practicing their new piece.

_The worst is over now__  
><em>_And we can breathe again__  
><em>_I wanna hold you high, you steal my pain away__  
><em>_There's so much left to learn__  
><em>_And no one left to fight__  
><em>_I wanna hold you high and steal your pain__  
><em>

The door opened, but Katara wasn't listening, this song was what she needed right now. It was everything she had felt, had been feeling, and probably would be seeing for the foreseeable future. Her voice cracked as her throat tensed up, but she wasn't about to cry over a stupid boy, a stupid, stupid, loveable boy.

Another voice joined hers, baritone and powerful, Zuko's voice. But she was too tired to turn around and yell, too frustrated to stop playing, and too sad to get angry.

_Cause I'm broken when I'm open__  
><em>_And I don't feel like I am strong enough__  
><em>_Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome__  
><em>_And I don't feel right when you're gone away_

_Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome__  
><em>_And I don't feel right when you're gone… away_

_You're gone away__  
><em>_You don't feel me here …anymore__._

The song ended and though Katara didn't turn around she spoke. "I'm tired Zuko, go away."

He didn't say anything and turned to leave. "I'm sorry."

Something in Katara snapped and she whirled around, furious. "I have had it, Zuko! I have had it up to here with your apologizing! What are you so sorry about? What? What is so horribly _wrong_ with you that you have to apologize for every single breath you take?"

Zuko stopped. "I'm not good enough for you. Why do you want me? I'm just going to ruin you in the end."

"Oh. My. God. I can't believe you just said that. I thought we got over your massively fucked up inferiority-superiority complex."

Zuko glared. "Katara, I'm serious."

"Of course you are." She jutted out her hip. "Look, Zuko. This is how this is gonna go."

"Katara, please. Just let it go."

"No, I'm not gonna let it go. I like you. I like you a lot. And I'm going to kiss you. And you're going to kiss me back. And we're going to figure this out because I do like you. And I'm pretty sure that you like me too."

Zuko looked like he was about to argue.

Katara shut him up with her lips.

There were no more arguments after that.


End file.
